Let’s Start a Conversation!

Immigration. It’s a word that generates all kinds of emotions—pity, anger, confusion. It also raises an assortment of questions. How did we get to the point where we are today? How many undocumented immigrants are in the country today? What is the difference between immigrants and refugees and asylees? What about assimilation to the “American way of life”?

In light of all of this, how might we begin to engage immigration from an explicitly Christian point of view? Does the Bible have anything to say about immigration? What difference would it make to think about it in this way?

Let’s begin that conversation! The goal of this blog is to get Christians (and anyone else who is interested!) talking about immigration very self-consciously from the resources of their faith. My hope is that this can be a civil exchange, even if there is significant disagreement. Let ‘iron sharpen iron’ with a strong dose of charity and patience.

I will be drawing from my book, Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible (sec. ed.; Brazos, 2013), but I also will point readers to other resources, share ongoing experiences with immigrants, and raise other issues that are relevant to the debate.